The present invention relates to bicycles.
In particular, the present invention relates to a safety structure for connecting to a bicycle pedal a shoe, which is worn by the cyclist during operation of the bicycle, in such a way that the shoe will be automatically released from the pedal in response to an abnormal occurrence such as a collision, a fall, or the like.
Thus, while the invention relates in general to bicycle equipment, it is concerned particularly with safety devices utilized primarily by sport cyclists to maintain their shoes on the pedals in the best possible position for achieving the most effective use of the force exerted by the cyclist.
Known devices for connecting the shoes of a cyclist to the pedals include at least bands which are adapted to extend around the front parts of the shoes. However, racers, long-distance cyclists, or other sport cyclists also utilize a sole plate for connecting the shoe to the pedal. The bands referred to above include an elastic band adapted to extend forwardly around the front tip of the shoe and to be connected with a front part of the pedal as well as a rear band adapted to extend laterally around the shoe to the rear of the tip thereof, over the instep, this rear band generally including a buckle for tightening this rear band onto the shoe, and of course this rear band also is connected with the pedal. This rear band can be connected to the rear part of the band which extends forwardly around the front tip of the shoe and can extend around and beneath the pedal itself. The sole plate is in the form of a plate of suitable configuration fixed to the lower surface of the sole of the shoe, this sole plate generally having a configuration according to which it can be received in grooves or the like of a member fixed to the pedal and determining the position of the shoe on the pedal, the fixing of the shoe to the pedal being assured by the tightening of the band which extends around the upper part of the shoe over the instep thereof.
Devices of the above type are of course perfectly suitable in connection with application of propulsion forces by the cyclist to the bicycle, these propulsion forces acting generally in a vertical plane and being in the form of pushing as well as pulling forces. However, these known devices are inconvenient to manipulate and can be uncomfortable when used, particularly when the buckle of the band which passes lateraly around the shoe is not properly situated, the security of the connection of the shoe to the pedal depending upon the tightening of the lateral band around the shoe with the cyclist tending to provide excessive tightening of this band.
Moreover, fastening devices of the above type are difficult to manipulate for the purpose of quickly freeing the shoe from the pedal when it is desired to apply the shoe on the surface on which the bicycle travels, when it is desired to stop the bicycle or with a view to correcting a condition of lack of equilibrium, the cyclist risking a fall under these conditions. Moreover, and of even greater importance, fastening devices of the above type are dangerous in the case of unavoidable falls resulting, for example, from collisions with fixed objects or other cyclists, as, for example, when traveling at high speed down an incline along a sharply curved path or when traveling at high speed at a beginning of a race, for example, in a group of cyclists who are located extremely close to each other. The reason for the particular danger under these latter conditions resides in the fact that the cyclist is in effect connected to the bicycle, and his lower extremities can under the above conditions be submitted to abnormal forces in an attempt to pull away from the bicycle, with bending or twisting of the limbs under these conditions resulting undesirably in fractures or other serious injuries.
The fear of such a fall and the consequences thereof moreover result for most cyclists, under these conditions, in a limiting of their efforts and a holding back of their output so that as a result their performance is not as great as might otherwise be possible.